Urban outfitters: some retailers consider a metro audience a hidden treasure. Are you in a position to take advantage of these sales?

Pool & Spa News, March 14, 2005 by Julie Sturgeon

Sealing the deal

The key to reaching an urban audience with your message lies in showing these consumers how you can make their lives better in contexts that matter to them, Moran says.

For many, that means relying on weather. The few pools that Bishop has sold to downtown Detroit's families came during heat waves. He and Schneider emphasize the pools' efficiency in cooling off hot, tired families.

The city spa crowd responds well to word-of-mouth referrals. That's not to say Fenig leaves anything to chance. Taking advantage of this market segment's entertainment bent, he hosts what he calls "the Tupperware of Lighting" party on their premises. The homeowner invites pals over for cocktails and to show off the new digs -and Fenig supplies the refreshments.

He also takes advantage of mapping software to pinpoint direct-mail solicitations in a customer's vicinity. "Birds of a feather flock together," he says. "If you have a spa in urban Charlotte, there's a real good chance two doors down, the neighbors have a similar lifestyle."

City installation is rarely a hurdle for aboveground-pool retailers. Under no obligation to pull permits as a contractor would for an inground build, Bishop only has to make the sale. "We haven't seen any limitations or challenges from city zoning," he says. "They get half the neighborhood to come over and put the pool up in a day, and they're good to go."

Schneider breezes through the installation phase, too. The Bronx requires no permits, just an ordinance requiring the pool to sit at least 3 feet off the property line for safety reasons.

Spa retailers can only sigh at such ease. "Just getting the spa back there is like moving a grand piano," Fairchild says. "You can't just throw it around." Nor can you haul it through stairways, squeeze it between the original door frames or drag it down an alley. Many of the row houses feature grated and wrought iron fences, so lifting the spa over is nearly impossible.

"Cranes typically don't work well downtown because of the low-hanging power lines," Anderson says. "So a lot of times, you have to be creative: Build ramps over fences, take fences down, talk to three neighbors to borrow their property and slide it over." He once resorted to a block-and-tackle delivery to a Lake Shore Drive condominium located on the 23rd floor. "It wasn't too bad getting it up," he says, "but we did have a problem with the parapet at the top."

Perhaps his favorite job required a helicopter drop. "The guy has a great view of the lake and Chicago skyline while he sits in his spa," Anderson says. But at least such setups are do-able.

Most of his spa installations end up outside because the only way to incorporate the unit indoors would require taking off a roof or knocking down walls. Occasionally, a customer will cut out the floor, including the joists, to drop a spa into the basement, but that's rare.

The pain, however, offers a nice return on investment. "Customer loyalty in the urban market is extremely high," Anderson says.